Buying Advice ideas to increase traction for snow work

[rmankty]

Hello, I own a 1948 farmall cub,I used My Dads '54.for decades plowing snow with front blade in Michigan. I know tractor only spins wheels with 1 set rear wheel weights, and must have chains.However,My Mother's house has all concrete drive, slopes down all the way to road, and if I can find a way to avoid chains I would prefer to. I have been looking for either 2nd set weights for rear, or bolt something on to draw bar between wheels. Any suggestions?

 

[RoyJackson]

I'd add some kind of ballast on the 3PH (if you have a 3PH).
Since you do not have a front loader, be judicious with adding weight...too much and you may loose steering.

As far as chains...I'm guessing you have Ag tires on the rear. If I were you, I'd CALL the folks at www.tirechains.com and ask their advice.

 

[JB4310]

Hello, I own a 1948 farmall cub,I used My Dads '54.for decades plowing snow with front blade in Michigan. I know tractor only spins wheels with 1 set rear wheel weights, and must have chains.However,My Mother's house has all concrete drive, slopes down all the way to road, and if I can find a way to avoid chains I would prefer to. I have been looking for either 2nd set weights for rear, or bolt something on to draw bar between wheels. Any suggestions?

The only thing you can do is pile on as much weight as the machine will hold, if you don't want to use chains and scratch the concrete.

I have seen some kind of steel cables used instead of chain, or ring chains maybe. might do less damage.

JB

 

[EMB5530]

The last two winters I have tied 1/4" nylon rope around my tires on my pickup and it helps a bunch. I just take a single strand and wrap through my mag around the tire and tie the not as tight as possible and then use a piece of tie wire(as small as possible as the rope eventually breaks and you want the least ammount of weight possible) and secure the not toward the outside of the tire where it cannot spin back toward the inside.When it does break the rope just flies out and you tie another on in its place later. The point of keeping the knot toward the outside is so when it breaks the majority of the rope is on the outside and will not catch the breaklines. It does quite well in my opinion an is eaiser than installing chains. Plus my pickup doesnt have enough room for chains to clear between the tire and suspension safetly.
But all in all I think this may also work for your tractor, you may need to use larger rope. You can also experiment w/ different types as I had acquired
for free thousands of feet of this 1/4 nylon I just use it but other types may work better or last longer.
Dont know till ya try.
Hope it helps:thumbsup:

 

[k0ua]

This thread I am posting refers to R4 tires, but I wonder what this technique would do for your AG's .. Just a thought, read the thread and see what you think.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/snow-removal/193438-cutting-groving-siping-r-4-a.html


James K0UA

 

[JB4310]

The last two winters I have tied 1/4" nylon rope around my tires on my pickup and it helps a bunch. Dont know till ya try.
Hope it helps:thumbsup:

When I mentioned the cable, I was thinking to myself, what is like cable but would definitely not scratch the surface? Rope came to mind, but I thought no that's kinda nutty.

Now you say it works, So I believe you.

JB

 

[EMB5530]

When I mentioned the cable, I was thinking to myself, what is like cable but would definitely not scratch the surface? Rope came to mind, but I thought no that's kinda nutty.

Now you say it works, So I believe you.

JB

the more you spin the quicker its gonna break. But since it is on a tractor and its is not going highway speeds I think you ought to be just fine.
Maybe try some 1/2" rope.
I dont know if hemp rope would hold up better (ha ha this just came to mind "Dont smoke the tires" hehehe) but I think you can get boxes of hemp rope like furniture stores use then you could weave it togther to make it larger and do it for pretty cheep(remember you WILL be replacing them every so often so inexpensive is good)

I kinda think they ought to last pretty long cuz when I tie my tires I run my truck at highway speeds and they only seem to wear really quick once the roads have been completly clean.(Generaly last anywhere from 20 to 50 miles) If I stick to slow speeds on gravel roads they will last quite a bit longer

Good Luck:thumbsup:

 

[Soundguy]

5g bucket of concrete on the rear drawbar may help.

tht or make up a bracket on the rear wheels to add some generic weights.

I've cast weights out of concrete with simple forms with bolts sticking out for mounting. did that on fords..

soundguy

 

[PILOON]

Lead is actually the best for weight, low melting point and easy to cast. (you can actually
carve a mould in wood to pour the lead in)
Now for the source, try a local tire shop and buy the old weights they use to balance tires.

You can actually melt lead in an old pot on your kitchen range, that is how I made my weight belt for SCUBA diving.
I now use the same weights on my tractor.

Naturally if lead is scarce gold can be substituted.

 

[rmankty]

Hello, thanks alot for idea. I have a '48 cub with 1 set of weights now on rear.I have used chains before,but I would rather not this year on my Mothers concrete.I thought about using 1/2" nylon or polypropylene truck rope or twisted nylon,since seeing your post. They also have 3/4". What do you use a plastic tie at side through each Knot? The end result look like chains only with rope? This idea sounds great if it works for me.Im only going slow 1st gear or second on concrete except ten feet or so right at road.Thanks for any further help!

 

[20 20]

I will agree that if you're against chains then weight is pretty much it, except maybe EMB5530 advice. I will tell you though I don't care how much weight there is ice will still rule when it comes time to slip.

 

[sadexcuse4s10]

Load the tires with a water/antifreeze mixture. Should be an easy way to get a couple hundred lbs of weight on that thing.

There is a pretty cheap kit i found to fill your tires without removing them.

Installing Liquid Ballast in Tires | Gempler's

 

[Soundguy]

tsc and napa sells a burp valve for 9$ or so.

 

[EMB5530]

Experimenting is the key.
As I have only used this technique on my pickup I am not sure the best method for a tractor. If you wanna give it a try you could also try wrapping different materials around the length of the rope to see how it helps. For example try using tie wire, as I am sure it will not be to harsh on the concrete but it will probably not last long either. My main concern w/ wrapping things around the tire of my pickup is what possible damage can it do at highway speeds? As this is not much of a concern on your tractor(especally if your keeping it in low) there are all sorts of possibilities. Wire rope for example is not so harsh and will probably last a long time and still get great traction. You just gotta try all possibilities that present themselves to you. If you have an idea think through the possible benefits vs. the worst case scenerio and weight your decision accordingly.

As far as using the synthetic rope you will need to wrap something around your knots(at least this is what I have found at higher speeds)as they are very prone to unknotting.
Other than that good luck if you have some other material available or any other ideas of things to use run it by everyone here and we can all help to think of possible scenarios that may give cause to use or not to use it.

Good luck